Why pacemakers should have no place in racing

When the runners Iine up for the Sprint Cup on Saturday, I will be feeling relieved we’re not about to have the sort of unwelcome presence inflicted upon us that will no doubt be seen at Doncaster in next weekend’s St Leger: namely a wretched pacemaker.

I find it genuinely baffling that racing is so accepting of pacemakers. Of course, I understand why connections might wish to run them as they try to shape a race tactically to suit a stablemate. I also understand why lots of punters might actually want them there – by ensuring a good gallop, they can prevent a slow crawl becoming a sprint to the line and the best horse, in theory, becomes more likely to win the race. Furthermore, connections are generally not exactly secretive about the pacemakers’ duties.

But therein lies the problem. There is something fundamentally wrong about a race in which some of the participants are not there to win. Yes, they might win – as Qirat so memorably showed us earlier this summer, and others have done before him – but they are not supposed to win. And that is the key point.